Family doctor suspended for “speeding up” patient appointment videos

A newly qualified general practitioner was suspended after she was caught “speeding up” video recordings of her patient appointments because they took too long.

Dr. Mahjabeen Asim, 45, manipulated the films using an app and tried to make the consultations look much faster than they actually were, with at least one consultation lasting 45 minutes longer than the regular time limit of just 12 minutes.

Dr Asim, who was required to record the appointments as part of her training to become a general practitioner, was caught out when an examiner reviewing one of the films noticed an analogue clock on a wall showing 12.34pm, while the video times incorrectly showed the appointment ending at 11.50am.

When asked, Dr. Asim, who had previously failed the general practitioner exam twice, explained that she was afraid of getting lower marks and that she was under so much stress that she considered giving up.

She was subsequently registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and qualified as a general practitioner.

Dr Asim, from Streatham, south London, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester and banned from treating patients for two months. A panel had considered striking her off the medical register.

Recorded consultations

As part of her training, she was required to present 13 different recorded consultations with patients on a variety of topics, including acute and chronic illnesses, reproductive health, child welfare and mental health.

The criteria included that the deliberations be recorded continuously and unedited and that the camera must not be switched off.

It also stated that consultations would be limited to 12 minutes and that Dr. Asim would not receive any points for consultations that exceeded this time.

Dr. Asim submitted her consultations in March 2023, but problems began when the examiner contacted a professor overseeing the program and raised concerns about the recording and timing of one of the videos after noticing that the time on a clock on the wall did not match the time in the video.

All 13 of Dr Asim’s consultations were subsequently reviewed and it was suspected that four of them had been rushed. At a subsequent meeting with senior colleagues, she was described as “shocked, surprised and unable to provide an explanation for the discrepancies”.

“Feeling of panic”

Later that afternoon, she spoke to her GP and admitted to speeding up the recording. In a statement, Dr Asim said she had recorded the videos on her mobile phone and then used apps to compress the file size, and discovered a way to speed up the recordings.

David Morris, defending Dr Asim, said she acted “in a panic and without much thought or planning” and there was no real threat to patient safety.

Jade Bucklow, representing the GMC, said: “Dr Asim’s behaviour was sophisticated and deliberate. It cannot be described as a moment of panic when she logged onto a computer to speed up the footage.”